UNL’s Water For Food Institute to lead Imperial workshop on emerging water-use technology

Are you a producer who has been involved in a research project with Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute (DWFI) at the University of Nebraska, the Nebraska Water Balance Alliance (NEWBA), or Grower Information Services Coop (GiSC)? Have you heard about any of these projects, or would like to find out about interesting new projects that are going on in your neighborhood and could help improve water use efficiency on your farm?
The Upper Republican Natural Resource District (URNRD) invites all producers within the district to participate in a workshop with faculty and technical staff of the DWFI and NEWBA on 9 a.m. Jan. 29, 2024, at the URNRD office in Imperial, 511 East 5th Street.
The workshop will discuss some of the projects on which DWFI, the Nebraska Water Balance Alliance (NEWBA), and URNRD have been collaborating. One of these is the Parallel 41 Flux Network (https://parallel41.nebraska.edu/#/), which is a network of eddy covariance flux towers that provides real-time crop evapotranspiration (ET) measurements and other information through their website, to producers and water managers.
The latest on satellite-based ET and soil water balance measurements and how they can be used for irrigation scheduling will be presented and discussed, along with plans to serve this information to producers in the future through online tools and apps. The information is also being used to estimate the aquifer recharge in a smaller representative basin within the URNRD, along with satellite estimates of precipitation and measurements from the NERain network. Also, the results of a 3-year study funded by USDA examining farmer irrigation behavior in the Republican River Basin in response to different levels of information will be presented. Results from other irrigation projects that have involved grower participation will also be discussed if time allows. All producers in the URNRD are encouraged to attend, especially those who have participated in any of these projects.
Food will be provided at the event. If there is bad weather, the meeting will be postponed until 9 a.m. on Jan. 31. Confirmation of meeting postponement will be on the URNRD website, www.urnrd.org.